Many Unhappy Returns

After last week’s disappointment it was ironic that Glossop’s arrival with a depleted squad at Manchester on Sunday morning appeared to be designed to set up a reversal of the events of the week before. Sandbach were pleased to welcome back a number of absentees from the 28-15 defeat but chose to start the match with players on the sidelines rather than loan to Glossop.

Sandbach looked fired up for this important match and only a series of knock-ons prevented a score in the first few minutes. That did not take long to arrive though when a desperate clearance was fielded by Hannah Johnson who made a lot of ground before offloading to Katie Morten who sprinted in along the left wing, then touching down under the posts. Nieve Jones duly converted for a 7-0 lead.

After dominating a couple of mauls, the forwards then provided a perfect platform for their backs and this time it was Katie who freed Hannah for a long run in to the visitors’ line for an early 12-0 lead.

It appeared that Glossop’s heads went down at this point as they pictured a long afternoon ahead of them. From a slow restart however, Glossop were finally able to get a good field position and an excellent score was made when several tackles were escaped for a converted try to keep them in touch at 12-7.

In hindsight an important development after almost 20 minutes was an injury to a Glossop player which meant that the only sporting thing for Sandbach to do was to loan a player. Hannah therefore played out the last few minutes in a Glossop shirt.

The first third ended with the impression that although Sandbach were making heavy going of their numerical advantage, it was only a matter of time before they got a grip of the game.

The decision was made in the break to loan Glossop Katie who had had such an excellent game for Sandbach the week before and was clearly still on form. It has to be remembered that at this point, Sandbach were still expecting to dominate and a “tactical” loan was not even considered.

The second period however was the home team’s undoing. Glossop were soon back on level terms after some good pressure resulted in a penalty being quickly tapped from 10 metres out to dive over.

Then perhaps the inevitable happened when Katie received the ball with some space and apologetically did the right thing by racing through her team mates for a try under the posts, converted to a 19-12 lead to the visitors.

Sandbach recovered well and proceeded to camp out in the Glossop half but showed no penetration and a frustrating series of pointless drives by the forwards and loose passes by the backs was comfortably defended. After several minutes of white-line fever, Glossop took possession and a speculative kick was well chased so that having been under the cosh for so long, Glossop were able to turn round for the final third at 24-12 up.

Even now the game was there for the taking with the Glossop girls disadvantaged in that they had no fresh legs to bring on. Again Sandbach established themselves in the visitors’ half but the lessons had not been learned. Time and time again the ball was taken back to the Glossop girls rather than moved away from them. Whether this was by the forwards or by the half backs made no difference – Route One was the preferred option no matter how unsuccessful it had already proved to be. Although defending certainly takes its toll, Glossop must have been so grateful that they were not having to chase the attackers and were simply being asked to soak up the pressure.

Eventually it was Sandbach who suffered from the battering that they were handing out up front when, after some superb defending by Glossop, three Sandbach players lay injured just metres from the try line. After a lengthy break for treatment, Glossop were able to escape from their half and another breakaway try was scored, despite a determined chase back by Katie, to give a comfortable lead of 29-12.

Having now conceded 29 unanswered points, Sandbach then decided to run the ball and a third try soon came their way when Hannah looped around the defence and some excellent support play by Amy Lees brought the score back to 29-17.

Glossop were now well in control of the scoreboard however, and with morale high, a sixth try was scored to double the home team’s score at 34-17. As scant consolation for such an unexpected defeat, Amy was able to score her second try as Glossop tired, converted by Nieve, to arrive at the final score of 34-24.

Sandbach cannot really claim to have been unlucky for a defeat essentially conceded through naïve tactics and uncharacteristic poor handling when in attack. Glossop on the other hand deserve full credit for their determination and their growing confidence through the game carried them through for an unexpected league double over Sandbach.

So, to the North of England 10s at Caldy on the Bank Holiday weekend - if Sandbach show their previous ability to learn from their mistakes and play to their strengths, then the season could still end on a high at a tournament that really will suit a more open style of play than we saw on Sunday.